Laptop help.

[chargirlgenius]

I’m in the market for a new laptop, for work and for play. It’ll be my personal laptop (purchased by me), but it has to perform well enough to handle being a work laptop twice a week as well. I get a bit of a deal on Dell systems from work, so I’ve been looking in that directions. Don’t know exactly what kind of discount yet.

All of the cheaper, home-use Dells have glossy screens, and after using the glossy on the Vaio, I’ve realized that I hate it. I’d like to be able to work outside or at the kitchen table, and glare is a big problem there.

We don’t do a lot of heavy gaming, really, Jeff just plays a lot of Mafia Wars and the like, but that’s about it. I don’t game at all. I know myself and don’t want to get addicted. :-D

Some video editing capabilities would be nice, but it doesn’t have to be high end. We’re talking home movies stuff.

I tend to have lots of windows open at once. Our current laptop acts like a dinosaur in that regard, though it’s only a couple of years old. I’m thinking I want 4GB of RAM. What kind of performance difference am I going to see between, say, 2.26GHz, 3M L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB, and 2.53GHz, 3M L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB? If I’m not gaming, does that matter more, or memory matter more?

Can you tell I’m a computer moron?

Integrated mobile wireless with Verizon is a nice-to-have, but not necessary. If it’s not included, I’ll probably just tether my crackberry to it.

I won’t be carrying it back and forth to work, but I don’t want a brick either. Can’t afford a Macbook Air. :-D I want a decent sized screen, though I’ll eventually get a second monitor and dock it. Needs to be able to dock. Can all laptops dock?

So, recommendations? I'm open to Mac, but price is a consideration. I’ve been leaning towards a Dell Latitude E6500, with XP instead of Vista, upgraded to 4GB RAM, and the Verizon built-in Mobile Broadband (they have a rebate so it’s free).

ETA: For that matter, is Vista really that bad?

Comments

[verymelm.livejournal.com]

If you're looking at 64-bit computers, keep in mind that they will likely run pretty hot. My personal laptop kicks off a *lot* more heat than my work laptop. The machine is built to handle it, but even sitting with it up on a tray on my lap, it's too warm for comfort during the summer. If it will only ever be on a desk, as long as you keep adequate room around it for ventilation, it won't be a problem, but if you plan to sit it in your lap to work from, it may be something to consider.

Also, 64-bit is nice, but a lot of programs just aren't designed for it yet, so you'll likely still be installing things that won't be able to take advantage of the speed/power. I don't really notice much difference (other than the heat) between 32-bit and 64-bit (but I'm not a hard core computer expert, either) *except* when I'm gaming and I'm not knowledgeable enough to determine if the difference is the 64-bit architecture or the higher end video card in my personal laptop. Unless you're really going to be grinding through a lot of data or multitasking with more or bigger programs than the typical user, I'm not sure 64-bit is worth it (yet).

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

Hm. I wonder if it would make a difference with Photoshop. That's one program that really seems to slow us down.

[alienor.livejournal.com]

Theoretically, yes, it'll make a difference. We haven't bought the 64-bit version to test it, though.